Protection
by Gwenhwyfar1984
Summary: Meg's first day of work doesn't go as planned when a customer stirs up trouble.


Dreamwidth Community Whole New World Prompt Table: Restaurant/Coffee Shop/Misc. Job-#003: Unhappy Customer

Part of the Angel Family Restaurant series.

* * *

Meg awoke suddenly, not knowing where she was at first. Instead of the sound of traffic or people, it was quiet. Instead of the hard, cold ground she was laying somewhere soft and warm. Then it all came back to her. She was in her own bed, in her own apartment, and she was safe.

Reaching over to the nightstand she turned on the light and sat up in the bed. Pulling her knees to her chest, she looked around the small room. It was bare, of course. She had found a small clock radio tucked away and forgotten on a shelf in the closet, and she had set it on the nightstand. It read 6:20. The alarm was due to go off at 6:30. She snuggled down in the warm sheets and blankets for the ten minutes, enjoying the feeling, then turned off the beeping. Swinging her legs out from under the blankets, she sat on the edge of the bed and placed her feet down onto the carpet. Carpet, not dirt, or cement, or filth. A clean, plush carpet.

After a longer shower than she probably should have taken, she dressed in her new clothes and took the tub of leftover spaghetti from the fridge. Opening it, she looked down at the cold noodles and sighed.

Castiel had invited her to breakfast, but she felt weird about it. She still had no idea what this guy's angle was. He couldn't be doing it out of the goodness of his heart, yet he had rejected her offer of payment. Nobody had ever rejected that offer before. Meg knew through experience that nothing in life was free or good. The other shoe was going to drop soon, and she would just have to be prepared.

A knock on the door startled her. Answering it, she found Ambriel on the porch.

"Hi. Castiel was worried you wouldn't know when it was time for breakfast. And that you wouldn't want to come to breakfast," the young woman said.

"Uh, yeah," Meg admitted. "He's right."

"We don't mind. Honestly. He's making his blueberry pancakes and homemade syrup. You can't miss that!"

Meg couldn't remember the last time she'd had pancakes. It did sound good. "All right. If you don't really mind."

Ambriel grinned and hurried down the stairs. Meg slipped her shoes on, paused to tie them, and closed the door. After a second, she locked it and slipped the key into her pocket.

Ambriel let them in the back door and waved to Castiel, who was at the stove. He threw them a smile and flipped a pancake over. Ambriel led them out of the kitchen and into the living room. The young woman's phone rang and she looked at the screen.

"I have to answer this. Make yourself comfortable."

After Ambriel left, Meg wandered into the living room. Over the fireplace were a few framed photographs. There was Ambriel looking slightly younger wearing a cap and gown. Probably her high school graduation. There was Castiel standing in front of an old, academic looking building. He too looked younger and so happy. Another photo showed a red haired woman in a wedding gown next to a brown haired man in a suit. Finally, there was a group photo. Meg picked it up to take a closer look.

"My family," Ambriel said from behind her.

Meg quickly set the photo back on the mantle. "I wasn't stealing it."

Ambriel picked the photo back up. "I didn't think you were."

Meg wasn't so sure. "That's your family?"

Ambriel nodded. "Yes. There's me and Castiel. Then our older brothers Gabriel-you'll meet him-and Raphael. That's our older sister Anna, and the youngest, Samandriel."

"So you're all…" She trailed off, looking at the diversity among the siblings.

Ambriel smiled. "Adopted? Of course. Do you have any siblings?"

Meg was quiet for a moment and considered not answering. "A brother," she finally said.

"Really? What's-"

"Ambriel," Castiel interrupted from the hallway. His expression was disapproving. "Please come help me."

Ambriel rolled her eyes. "Since when do you ever let me help you?"

"I think he just wanted to make you stop prying," Meg replied.

Both of them stared at her in surprise for a moment before Ambriel started laughing. "Good point. Is it ready, Cas?"

Castiel's lips twitched as though he were trying to not laugh. "Yes, it is. Come on. And what I need help with is setting the table."

After a delicious breakfast Meg accompanied Cas on a walk to his restaurant. As she passed the alley that was her former home, she once again began to have doubts. When she saw the inside of his business, the doubts intensified. The place wasn't fancy, but it was definitely not a dive either.

"Gabriel?" Castiel called, stopping just inside the kitchen doorway. He gestured for Meg to come forward. "This is our new janitor, Meg."

Gabriel looked confused. "Since when do we need a new janitor."

"Since I decided," Castiel replied serenely.

"Cas…" Gabriel trailed off and looked at Meg. "Welcome."

Meg nodded, and she saw Gabriel give Castiel a look before returning to the large pile of dough on the table.

Castiel led her to a small, neat office. He went to a file cabinet and pulled out a stack of papers. "You'll need to fill this out. Standard employment forms."

"Yeah, I don't know what's standard or not," she replied, looking at them.

"Of course," he replied and then proceeded to spend the next half an hour explaining everything to her in a patient voice. She reluctantly filled them out, hoping that he wouldn't pry too far into her past.

"Charlie!" he called suddenly. A moment later a young red haired woman stuck her head through the door.

"Yeah?"

"This is Meg. Please get her a uniform and show her where the cleaning supplies are," Castiel said, taking the completed forms and putting them into a neat pile.

Meg followed Charlie and changed in the small employee bathroom. Then she began her first ever work day.

Well, reputable work, anyway.

"-just don't know what you were thinking," Meg heard Gabriel say as she passed Castiel's office.

"She needed help," Castiel replied.

"She stole from you!"

"She was desperate."

"Look, I get that she's hot-"

"She's off limits, Gabe. I mean it. I...I think she's been hurt in the past. Bad. I want her to be comfortable here and she won't if you make her one of your conquests!"

Gabriel sighed. "That hadn't even crossed my mind, but fine. Look, I'm just saying that you don't know anything about this woman. She might not be the broken flower you think she is."

"Gabe, I need to do this."

"If she robs us blind, it's on you."

Meg hurried past the office and poured out the bucket of dirty water. Filling it with clean, soapy water, she returned to the front of the restaurant. As she passed Gabriel, she gave him a smirk and hurried on.

Honestly, she thought Gabriel was the smarter of the two brothers. She wouldn't trust her either.

A few hours later, as she was wiping down a just cleared table, a customer called for Charlie to refill his soda glass. Charlie approached the customer, and Meg was instantly on alert. Charlie was professional, and most wouldn't know anything was wrong. Meg, however, had quickly learned to read people, and she knew this man was trouble.

Charlie refilled the glass and as she was turning away, the man grabbed Charlie's ass.

Without even thinking, Meg strode over and grabbed the man's arm and twisted it behind his back, half pulling him from his chair. "Apologize. Now."

"Meg, no," Charlie said, grabbing Meg's arm.

"What? Let go of me, bitch," the man protested, trying to pull away.

Meg was a lot stronger than she seemed, and tightened her grip. "I said apologize to the woman, now. She's a nice girl, and she doesn't need pigs like you groping her."

"I was just having fun," the man protested, his voice turning into a whine as he saw anger wasn't going to get anywhere. So now he would play the victim. She knew his kind well.

"She doesn't need your kind of fun, and this is a respectable place. Now apologize before I get angry."

"Meg, what- Let go of him. Now," she heard Castiel order and felt a hand on her shoulder.

Meg waited for a few moments before letting him go. Turning to Castiel, she smiled. "Guess you don't have to bother with the paperwork. Or worry I'll rob you blind," she said before pushing past horrified, interested customers so she could leave.

She returned to Castiel's house and made it to her apartment before she realized that she was still wearing her uniform. Her key was in the pocket of the jeans she had been wearing. Sitting down on the steps, she started to consider her options.

She wasn't going back to the restaurant. They had probably called the police by now. If not, she was most certainly fired. Figures. She had known the whole thing was a bad idea. She wasn't meant for respectable society.

"You still have half a shift to finish," she heard, and looked down to see Castiel standing at the foot of the stairs.

"Funny."

"I'm not joking."

"You saw what-"

"I saw you defending an employee from abuse. Charlie told be what started it. I like loyalty in my employees. Maybe not the physical confrontation, but the idea behind it."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she asked, bewildered.

"Excuse me?"

"You take me in off the streets and now you don't fire me for essentially assaulting a customer? You're...not...like most people."

He smiled, but it held a hint of sadness. She stood up and slowly walked down the stairs to him. "You're really not firing me?"

"No, Meg. I want you to work for me. If it helps, you now have a fan in Charlie."

"All right," she eventually replied.

He handed her a wrapped sandwich. "This counts as your lunch break."

She took it with a smirk and together they walked back with him to the restaurant.


End file.
